MIAMI (April 20, 2016) – The FIU beach volleyball team (11-7, 5-3 CCSA) will head out to Emerson, Georgia this weekend to take place in the first ever Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Conference Tournament. The tenth-ranked Panthers have earned the No. 3 seed, and pool play will begin Friday, April 22 and continue to Saturday, April 23. The single elimination tournament will begin on Sunday, April 24 with the championship match being broadcast live on ESPN3 at 1:00 p.m. ET.
 
FIU has been placed in Group 2 along with (No. 2 seed) Georgia State, (No. 6 seed) Florida Atlantic, and (No.7 seed) Tulane. The Panthers will play each school once in pool play. The winner of each group will automatically earn a spot in Sunday's tournament with a bye in the Quarterfinals. Schools which come in second and third in pool play will participate in the Quarterfinals Saturday afternoon.
 
The Panthers are coming off a strong outing to wrap up their regular season at Siesta Key, Florida. FIU routed Grand Canyon by a score of 4-1 and ended the day with a 5-0 sweep against TCU. The effort was led by graduate student Tina Toghiyani who became the all-time wins leader in program history with her 63^rd victory. Redshirt sophomore Savannah Davis also moved up in the record books with her 28^th win, placing her ninth all-time in school history.
 
Looking at the Panthers of GSU: The No. 9 Georgia State Panthers (22-7, 6-4 CCSA) enter the conference tournament as the No. 2 seed. FIU has faced off against Georgia State twice this season, splitting the series. FIU holds a 4-2 lead in the all-time series. The rivalry will be renewed on Friday at 9:30 a.m. ET.
 
Looking at the Green Wave: Tulane (17-12, 4-7 CCSA) enters this weekend's conference tournament as the No. 7 seed. The Panthers defeated Tulane at the FIU Surf & Turf Invitational earlier this month by a score of 4-1. FIU will face the Green Wave at 2:30 p.m. ET on Friday.
 
Looking at the Owls: Florida Atlantic (12-13, 3-5 CCSA) will play as the No. 6 seed in the CCSA Conference Tournament. The Owls have already been taken down by FIU earlier this season (4-1). The Panthers lead the all-time series, 6-0. First serve is set for 9:00 a.m. ET on Saturday.
 
 
Groups/Seeding
 
Group 1                                   Group 2
No. 1 Florida State                   No. 2 Georgia State
No. 4 LSU                                No. 3 FIU
No. 5 South Carolina               No. 6 Florida Atlantic
No. 8 UAB                                No. 7 Tulane
 
Friday, April 22
 
8:00 a.m.         Match 1 – Florida State vs. LSU
                        Match 2 – South Carolina vs. UAB
9:30 a.m.         Match 3 – Georgia State vs. FIU
                        Match 4 – Florida Atlantic vs. Tulane
1:00 p.m.         Match 5 – Florida State vs. South Carolina
                        Match 6 – LSU vs. UAB
2:30 p.m.         Match 7 – Georgia State vs. Florida Atlantic
                        Match 8 – FIU vs. Tulane
 
Saturday, April 23
 
9:00 a.m.         Match 9 – Georgia State vs. Tulane
                        Match 10 – FIU vs. Florida Atlantic
10:30 a.m.       Match 11 – Florida State vs. UAB
                        Match 12 – LSU vs. South Carolina
2:00 p.m.         Quarterfinal 1 – Group 2 #2 vs. Group 1 #3
                        Quarterfinal 2 – Group 1 #2 vs. Group 2 #3
 
Sunday, April 24
 
8:00 a.m.         Semifinal 1 – Group 1 #1 vs. Winner of Quarterfinal 1
9:30 a.m.         Semifinal 2 – Group 2 #1 vs. Winner of Quarterfinal 2
1:00 p.m.         Championship Match – Winner Semifinal 1 vs. Winner Semifinal 2

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About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, theWolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA andhas over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.